Picking the Right Training Plan

The next big race on my horizon is the Nike Women's Half Marathon DC. I was so excited to be one of the luck ones chosen for the second installment of this race. As of this past Monday I am officially 3 months out from race day which means I need to get my butt back into a training schedule. After Wine and Dine I took it easy; first my orthotics had to be sent out to be refit (there goes 2 weeks) then Christmas, New Years, and my birthday all came in quick succession. Oops, maybe I haven't kept the post-half momentum going quite as strong as I would've hoped. Oh well, you live and learn.

Nike offers a training app exclusive to the DC half marathoners featuring that beautiful Tiffany blue. I'm already a Nike+ user so I was excited to see what their training plan held. Once, I had the chance to check it out I was honestly disappointed in their developed plans. You can choose from Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced. All 3 version have you running 5-6 days a week. Personally, I felt like that was too much running and not enough cross-training/rest days. 

                   
I had encountered a few injuries during Wine and Dine training and didn't want the same thing to happen again. For my first race my main concern was to cross that finish line in one piece and not feel too much like death. This time around I know I can finish all 13.1 miles, so I'd like to add in strength training and maybe some speed work. 

I looked into Hal Higdon's plans as well as the Runner's World Smart Coach. Hal Higdon's plans again were like the Nike's plan with too many days in a row of running.

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For the Runner's World plan I loved that you could customize the length of your plan. It really broke down what you should be doing during each training day, what your pace should be while running, etc.

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I've decided to give the Runner's World plan a shot. I liked that it's structure is similar to Galloway's but I can adjust the length & intensity to fit my needs. Looking back at the Galloway plans I feel like I'm somewhere in between a "beginner" and "time improvement" plan and this new plan appears to fall into that area. I'll keep everyone updated on how this new plan works for me!

Lauren

QOTD: What do you look for in a training plan?